Best Posts in Forum: COVID-19

I start by agreeing that what we know about this virus, the cause of Covid-19, is minimal to what we don't know. But I have summarised a very interesting [IMO] article from a reliable source and put some crucial parts in bold [So much of the article is pertinent that I ended up repeating most of it]:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54648684

"A simple virus has brought life as we know it to a screeching halt:

We have faced viral threats before, including pandemics, yet the world does not shut down for every new infection or flu season. So what is it about this coronavirus? What are the quirks of its biology that pose a unique threat to our bodies and our lives?

Master of deception:

In the early stages of an infection the virus is able to deceive the body. Coronavirus can be running rampant in our lungs and airways and yet our immune system thinks everything is a-ok. "This virus is brilliant, it allows you to have a viral factory in your nose and feel completely well," says Prof Paul Lehner from the University of Cambridge.

It behaves like a 'hit and run' killer:

The amount of virus in our body begins to peak the day before we begin to get sick. But it takes at least a week before Covid progresses to the point where people need hospital treatment. "This is a really brilliant evolutionary tactic - you don't go to bed, you go out and have a good time," says Prof Lehner.

.... the virus has moved on to the next victim long before we either recover or die. In stark terms, "the virus doesn't care" if you die, says Prof Lehner, "this is a hit and run virus". This is a massive contrast with the original Sars-coronavirus, back in 2002. It was most infectious days after people became ill, so they were easy to isolate.

It's new, so our bodies are unprepared:

In 2009 there were huge fears about H1N1, aka swine flu. However, it turned out to be no way near as deadly as anticipated because older people already had some protection. The new strain was similar enough to some that had been encountered in the past.

There are four other human coronaviruses, which cause common cold symptoms. Prof Tracy Hussell from the University of Manchester, said: "This is a new one, so we don't think there's much prior immunity there."

This lack of prior-protection is comparable to when Europeans took smallpox with them to the New World, with deadly consequences.

Building an immune defence from scratch is a real problem for older people, as their immune system is slow off the mark. Learning to fight a new infection involves a lot of trial and error from the immune system. But in older age we produce a less diverse pool of T-cells - a core component of the immune system - so it is harder to find ones that can defend against Coronavirus.

It does peculiar and unexpected things to the body:

Covid starts off as a lung disease (even there it does strange and unusual things) and can affect the whole body.

Prof Mauro Giacca, from King's College London, says many aspects of Covid are "unique" to the disease, indeed "it is different from any other common viral disease".

He says the virus does more than simply kill lung cells, it corrupts them too. Cells have been seen fusing together into massive and malfunctioning cells - called syncytia - that seem to stick around.

And Prof Giacca says you can have "complete regeneration" of the lungs after severe flu, but "this does not happen" with Covid. "It is quite a peculiar infection," he said.

Blood clotting also goes strangely awry in Covid, with stories of doctors unable to get a line into a patient because it is immediately blocked with clotted blood.

Clotting chemicals in the blood are "200%, 300%, 400% higher" than normal in some Covid patients, says Prof Beverly Hunt from King's College London. She told Inside Health: "Quite honestly, in a very long career, I've never seen any group of patients with such sticky blood."

The virus can cause runaway inflammation in some patients, making the immune system go into overdrive, with damaging consequences for the rest of the body. [I recall @tuba-coma pointing this out here on the Forum in March/April]

And we're fatter than we should be:

Covid is worse if you are obese, as a generous waistline increases the risk of needing intensive care, or death. This is unusual. "Its very strong association with obesity is something we haven't seen with other viral infections. With other lung injuries, obese people often do better rather than worse," said Prof Sir Stephen O'Rahilly, from the University of Cambridge. Obese patients are more likely to have higher levels of inflammation in the body and proteins that can lead to clotting.

[I think this learned article is a massive condemnation of those who early on declared this illness "no worse than seasonal flu"].

 

For the 3rd time in a row Negros Oriental has been given GCQ in spite of the fact that we'd been having a clean record for several months already. Per our daily report, there had been ZERO new cases for the past months! We could not understand why they keep on extending GCQ when we should be moving forward to MGCQ. In the President's recent speech, he had announced the areas that would be downgraded to MGCQ and I swear, Negros Oriental was in the list. It is exasperating to see later on that some people up there have managed to change our classification for some reason.

Is it clinging to power and having control of people? Earlier before the president's announcement, like 3 or 4 days before, our local "leaders" have already preempted our quarantine form after May 31 saying that we would still be extending GCQ. This pronouncement however did not tally with the President's announcement later, that Negros Oriental will now be downgraded to MGCQ. How this decision changed is beyond everyone's understanding when the local govt. made a final announcement that we are still under GCQ, contrary to the President's announcement in his speech. What happened? Did someone from the local government make an appeal to national government that we should still remain under GCQ? It seems like it and it is not funny. It only reflects the kind of leaders we have in this province-----they are a bunch of weaklings who want to hold on to the power straw.

The people of Negros Oriental do not deserve this prolonged isolation. We'd been good, following protocols, etc. I just wish we'll have an election tomorrow so we can change these corrupt weaklings.

 

The coronavirus is not the same type of virus as causes influenza and so their is very little herd immunity - meaning that few people within the population will have enough immunity to break the chain of spread (as in cutting down trees in a forest to reduce or stop the spreading of the fire), as does happen with influenza, especially in a vaccinated population. So, in the initial stages, no one knows how fast it will spread. China, being an authoritarian State is, of course, able to take quick action to reduce the spread. Also, no-one knows initially, with a new disease, how easily it spreads from person-to-person (how contagious it is) or how it affects individuals (especially the serious illness and death rates).

Then there is the possibility of mutation - changes in the outer coat of the virus which make it more dangerous and possibly more able to overcome any existing immunity within the population. This could take place due to the coronavirus recombining its RNA (like DNA but a little different) with another virus within a host - that could be a human it infected or another species. The new virus could be far more lethal. It may even behave like the influenza virus, which changes it outer coat by antigenic drift and so makes existing antibodies (a major basis of immunity) less effective.

So, I think in view of the fact that we do not know the potential course of this virus, extreme caution is required. And even though we know the influenza virus extremely well, any change to the type could make it a major world killer. So whatever it is now - affecting mostly the young and elderly, not spreading like wildfire, killing a low percentage of infected persons - it may not stay that way

Think of it like meeting a new type of wild animal - would you rush up to it or treat it with caution until you know it better.

Those who take this viral outbreak seriously will be treated as weak fools if it turns out to be not that serious - but those who ignore it and end up allowing vast numbers of people to die (also wrecking the world economy) will be despised.

 

I assume they will be also giving it to their own citizens (and possibly to other countries with whom they curry favour) - if they hold back for their own citizens then we will know why.

Anyway, I would not want it even if they paid me.

 

I don't care for it but, in my opinion, the wearing of masks is a no brainer. The way a mask would protect the user and others in close vicinity from aerosol dispersion of the virus seems obvious. The problem with the advice from science is that the virus is something we are learning about and as we do so, our understanding of the virus, how it's spread, and who contagious and when is constantly evolving. Additionally, the wearing of masks has been politicized by the American right which adds a layer of controversy to the issue. Whether you are within a meter of others for any part of a day is a distinction I think too much to ask of anyone, including authorities here in the Philippines. I think it reasonable and responsible as a member of the local society to do your part and wear a mask. This is not a high bar to set, even though I don't like wearing a mask, I do so in public.

 

With todays technology the lights don't even stay on all the time.
If the volcano decides to erupt i think the smoke and heat will be the first warnings